Films shot in HD video..

Darren_Wharton

Darren_Wharton

Member
Hi Guys.

Just watched..'Once upon a time in Mexico'. I read that this movie was filmed using high def video cameras. The movie looked great, you can't distinguish it from film. I'm assuming this was the Cine Alta camera used by George Lucas..?
If not, which cameras were used..?

Plus, will any of the new breed of HDV progressive scan cameras get close to achieving this look..

JVC HD1.......maybe..XL2....or the HD Sony... or maybe the HVX..?

Cheers

Darren Wharton
www.darrenwharton.demon.co.uk
 
Shot on Sony F900 (Cine Alta) using the HDSDI Output going to a D5 deck (I think).

I guess in theory you could use the XLH1 and output the HDSDI signal to a deck...but you're talking about 1/3" chips vs. 2/3" chips. Not to mention the lenses used, and the extensive post work done to get the look of the movie.
 
I think the actual camera had less to do with the final look than the fact that the movie cost over $100,000,000 to make. Seriously. They had hundreds of professional crew members, designers, costumers, make-up artists, plus Industrial Light and Magic... not to mention Natalie Portman! ;)

But really, any of the above cameras is capable of producing excellent results (hmm, not sure about the HD1, but the others should be fine) provided you have professional production values. Good lighting and composition is much more important than pixel count.
 
"I think the actual camera had less to do with the final look than the fact that the movie cost over $100,000,000 to make. Seriously. They had hundreds of professional crew members, designers, costumers, make-up artists, plus Industrial Light and Magic... not to mention Natalie Portman! ;)"

Including my friend Sean who was the EIC/HD expert for the film. While I thought the film gave away its 'videoness' at times, it was the use of filters, editing, and color correction that gave it the look, and as rightfully pointed out, it had little to do with the camera rather it was about the pros who made it. No you will not be able to do the same thing with a 1/3 inch camera. Said another way the same thing you can do with a DVX you can do with any other camera. Its about those that use the equipment not the equipment they use.
 
jrv3034 said:
You can shoot your movie with a ZR60, but if it has her in it, she'll still look good. :thumbsup:
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He's talking about Once Upon A Time In Mexico, though. Star Wars WAS mentioned, however... :)
 
Aculag said:
He's talking about Once Upon A Time In Mexico, though. Star Wars WAS mentioned, however... :)
Click to expand...

Good point.

So take the name "Natalie Portman", replace with the name "Salma Hayek", and bingo! :happy:
 
I'm glad you bought this up Darren. Frankly I wonder how many people would've known Once Upon a Time in Mexico (a great action flick by the way) or Star Wars Ep 2 -3 were shot on video if we weren't told? When these film came out I often heard people talk about how these films looked like they were shot on video and blah blah blah, and I was like "C'mon man, who you fooling?" No one would have questioned these films if we were informed first hand.

I somewhat wish Hollywood had kept digital a secret. I bet it would be bigger now because it would've been this valued secret everyone was after. I got so tired of people trying to show off how smart they were by spouting BS about how they new this and how they new that.

My first film was shot on the DVX at 30p and no one knew, not even the distributor until he asked and was suprised. We didn't have great lighting or anything like that. It just looked like film. Later they tried to give me the "we prefer movies shot on film" line but I'm thinking, "Screw you. You're just going to keep all the money anyway." They didn't know it wasn't film. (Keep in mind this was 30p and at the time there hadn't been tons of movies shot on the DVX that were up for distribution).

So, I'm thinking "They want me to give them a $10,000 - $50,000 film for free. Here's a $700 film. Take it or leave it. It'll be a cold day in hell before I give you or anyone like you a movie shot on film." They took it. After the shoddy job they did with it I'm glad I didn't put more money into it. They weren't worth it.

I love digital and plan to go to shoot my next movie with either HDV or HD. But most of the times few know the difference between film and HD blown up to film unless it's basic 60i like Collateral. Frankly the outside shots in Michael Mann's "Collateral" made me question film in general. I've always wanted to see nightshots on video. They look much cooler and more real, especially in the area's he was in. When I get my HDV/HD camera I definitely plan to mimic this one day and I've got the perfect movie for it. And if the Panasonic and Canon are all they claims to be, we've got some good options.

-Nate
 
Nate, you say you whished, "Hollywood had kept digital a secret"... well Robert Rodriguez just WANTS to stress out that his movies are just videos and he tells over and over again, that EVERYBODY can easily and with a minimum of a budget make a million-dollar movie of his own, even if one has only a borrowed videocamera and a few bucks...

He declares 35mm dead as HD-Video has too many advantages "you even don't shout "CUT!" as you just shoot everything..." - as he says... often he was still shooting when actors tested out a scene... and the actors didn't know that, what made many scenes looking better...

Robert Rodriguez is for me like a "pope" for indie-filmers... he shot El Mariachi with a budget of 7'000 dollars - the actors lived in the town where he lived and where he shot the whole film... he "recycled" actors and nobody noticed... he just had 2 light sources for the whole movie.... he shot in apartements that belonged to actors... he borrowed each requisite you can see in the movie... he looped a single gun fire to get machine-gun fire....

That time he shouted out: "go and make your movie! It's easy - it can be cheap - just do it!"
Today he tells us to film on HD - also for budget reasons - he still saves millions of dollars in his movies today with just always a handful of good ideas for improvising.

It is to encourage us - to make that kind of art affordable for everybody.
 
I'll tell you a secret. Me and Rodriguez are the same person well except he's Hispanic and I'm a black guy, and he had the testicular fortitude to do something I on'y dreamed of. In film school I took both film and video classes. I often wondered why not put all the film on video and edit that way if then send it straight to video. This was his original thought (actually he was going for Mexican television not video) then he started shopping it around.

Later I started playing around with video as a narrative format but that was years ago. But everything happens for a reason I guess, because I never dreamed the DVX or anything like it would exist. I thought about narrative video for a long time in school. Now I have to use both my film and video education to make films. It's exactly he says. You just keep shooting sometimes, especially with fight scenes. I'm still learning to shoot everything because it's not like I have conserve film. That's why HDV on a firestore looked so good to me, now the HVX on an FS-100 seems just as good. (Four hours of footage). I really do love this time in filmmaking.

-Nate
 
Nathyn said:
I'll tell you a secret. Me and Rodriguez are the same person well except he's Hispanic and I'm a black guy, and he had the testicular fortitude to do something I on'y dreamed of.
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Yeah, but don't sell yourself short...you have the testicular fortitude to compare yourself to him. That's something.
:)

By the way, not to hijack the thread in another direction, but seeing as you mentioned race... Rodriguez had a great response in an interview early on in his career when a reporter asked him how he felt being one of the first big hispanic directors in hollywood.

He responded with, "I'm not a hispanic director. I'm a director who happens to be hispanic."

I always liked that.
 
Luis Caffesse said:
Yeah, but don't sell yourself short...you have the testicular fortitude to compare yourself to him. That's something.
:)

By the way, not to hijack the thread in another direction, but seeing as you mentioned race... Rodriguez had a great response in an interview early on in his career when a reporter asked him how he felt being one of the first big hispanic directors in hollywood.

He responded with, "I'm not a hispanic director. I'm a director who happens to be hispanic."
Click to expand...

True. Everyone wants me to be the next Spike Lee, but I'd rather be the next John Woo. It's funny but when you're a minority there are all these expectations and people get upset when you don't meet them. I'm glad he put it out there let that. I said something like this in a film I just finished writing a while ago.

-Nate
 
Don't be like Spike Lee. He's not a great person to emulate. Kicked him in his head once after he fell down after trying to push me.
 
Walter_Graff said:
Kicked him in his head once after he fell down after trying to push me.
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For whatever reason this is just funny to me. Honestly Spike Lee and John Singleton are both influences but no more than Rodriguez or anyone else who went out and just did it. It's not as easy as everyone makes it sound and if I had more money and better transportation I'd be shooting a lot more. I suppose I'd be shooting all the time if I had these things. I'd love to turn out three or four movies a year, the majority being features. Now that I have a light kit I can act a fool now.

-Nate
 
I have to tell you, from someone who has been involved in film and distribution for 20 years, video has been a curse and a blessing. Way more films, and way more crap. As a result, buyers relate the two together. Too many unskilled filmmakers have flooded the market and festivals. And it's not just the "video", it's that amateurs are pouring in like crazy and only a few gems coming to the surface. Acting, direction, scripts, etc.. all play a part in making a great film but because the expense of video has opened doors we are seeing mucho bad movies. I see them at the AFM and CANNES every year.

Until the pros (like Michael Mann) make more good films with video, and more amateurs learn their story and film skills....these low budget videos will usualy wind up on their own filmmakers shelves.
 
Walter_Graff said:
Don't be like Spike Lee. He's not a great person to emulate. Kicked him in his head once after he fell down after trying to push me.
Click to expand...

One of these days we've GOT to hear the rest of that story Walter.
:)
 
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